Photo: Excel23 · CC BY-SA 3.0Lake City’s library logs 1.7 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Columbia County Public Library serves 68,683 people in and around Lake City from 2 locations. Last year it lent 216K print books and media and logged 115K visits.
What Lake City’s library is like
Few residents carry a card
Only 14% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 39% for its size. How it compares ↓
Florida pays a big share
24% of the budget comes from the state, and 76% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Programs lean toward adults
51% of the 1,080 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 406 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
This summary is written from the numbers on this page. Numbers are the library’s own report to the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024; Columbia County Public Library serves 68,683 people in and around Lake City, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Lake City’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Lake City is ahead of 6% of U.S. towns, #222 of 273 in Florida. Lake City is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Lake City’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($42K–$71K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
Civic life counts registered nonprofits, library visits and online volunteering groups, so it can miss civic life that runs through congregations, mutual aid or neighbors looking out for each other.
Library visits: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024. Nonprofits: IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File, October 2026. Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. How TownRatings grades civic life →
29 community nonprofits are registered in Lake City
2.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
Community nonprofits, by kind
Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (14 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.5%
4.5% of Lake City’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 5.6% in the typical Florida town and 7.5% nationally.
Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. ZIP-code figures, weighted by where Lake City’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Columbia County Public Library serves 68,683 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 31 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Columbia County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
216K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Lake City’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
About 8 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
2 places to borrow in Lake City
Columbia County Public Library, 308 Northwest Columbia Avenue, Lake City.
No late fees. Good at every Columbia County Public Library branch.
New in Lake City? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Columbia County Public Library branches in Lake City
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.06 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lake City cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.9M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.9M budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
Retail prices are typical, rounded down: a new book $17, a kids’ book $12, an e-book or e-audiobook $15, a movie rental $4, a class or program $10, a computer or Wi-Fi session $3. The average cardholder’s month = the library’s yearly loans, attendance and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ its 9,297 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lake City | Columbia County Public Library fine-free | — | 56 | D |
| Watertown | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Five Points | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
- System-wide. Columbia County Public Library serves 68,683 people in and around Lake City, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Lake City.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average; libraries are compared with others serving about as many people. How TownRatings uses library figures →
Questions about the library and civic life in Lake City
Does Lake City have a public library?
Yes. Columbia County Public Library, 308 Northwest Columbia Avenue, serves 68,683 people in and around Lake City (the survey’s count) and is open about 56 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Columbia County Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Lake City’s library?
It logged 1.7 visits and lent 3.1 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Lake City’s civic life grade?
D Lake City is ahead of 6% of U.S. towns on civic life, #222 of 273 in Florida. The grade combines library visits per resident, community nonprofits per 1,000 residents and the share of adults 25–44 in volunteering groups. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Lake City.
Libraries: Institute of Museum and Library Services, Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024. Each library reports its own numbers. Distances are straight-line from the town center. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.